The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to incomplete medical records and unclear diagnoses. The URI claim is related to a pulmonary function test, while the staph infection claim requires clarification of the diagnosis and etiology.
The deciding factor: Incomplete medical records and unclear diagnoses prevent a clear determination on the service connection issues.
- Claimed conditions
- upper respiratory infection, staph infection
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180139
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19180139.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and upper respiratory illness or upper respiratory infection, finding that the persuasive weight of the evidence did not show a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, and requests medical opinions on the etiology of his coronary artery disease, GERD with dyspepsia, and upper respiratory infection.
- Granted
The Veteran's staph infection is granted service connection. The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral feet condition, ED, and scars related to his now service-connected staph infection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's upper respiratory infection claim is denied. The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for TBI, an increased rating for PTSD, and entitlement to a TDIU.
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